One winged angels
by Toobah
Summary: One year after Aeris' death, Cloud, Cid and Red XIII visit her grave. Rated for some swearing, please RR. Two new chapters up. Sorry, chapter three is a little weak.
1. The beginning

Their blades clashed. There was no way Cloud could lose this fight, the fate of the world depended on it. The two of them battled, their features glowing in the small shaft of light. They were both covered in cuts and bruises, but Cloud still retained his fighting spirit. With a mighty swing, Cloud knocked Sephiroth's sword from his hand, it clattered loudly into the darkness. Sephiroth stood, completely defenseless, there was an unnerving silence. Cloud approached Sephiroth slowly, his footsteps echoed around the dark cave. Sephiroth was shivering, he knew what was coming. Cloud stopped in front of Sephiroth and told him, "I looked up to you Sephiroth. My whole life was a struggle to be like you. But then you killed Zack, and Aeris. You would endanger the lives of everyone on the planet just to meet your own selfish ends. Your paths are marked by the bodies of innocent men, women and children!" He plunged his sword deep into Sephiroth's chest and whispered through gritted teeth,"I could never be like you." Sephiroth's face contorted with agony. He had failed, it was over. Light poured out of his mouth and eyes, so bright that Cloud had to shield his eyes. There came an almighty scream from Sephiroth. In a blinding flash of light and a shockwave so great that it knocked Cloud through the air, Sephiroth disappeared. Forever.  
  
Cloud had experienced a lot in his life time, things no-one should have to be subjected to. His life had certainly been incredible. He had witnessed adventure, love, betrayal, battle, murder. He had made many friends. Many enemies. His eyes filled with tears as he remembered Aeris. It had been exactly a year since she had died, he could still remember it vividly. The way she had knelt at the altar, praying to her ancestors, blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. Sephiroth. Cloud had had his revenge on Sephiroth, but the pain still remained in his heart. One year ago. Today would be the anniversary of her death, and he was headed to the abandoned city of the Ancients where she lay to pay his dues. He was stood on the deck of Highwind II, crying into the night. Alone. The wind lashed against his wet face, but he didn't care about the cold. A tear rolled down his cheek and splashed against the floor. He walked up to the rail and peered into the night, staring at the stars. He continued to cry to himself. Cid emerged from the door behind him, accompanied by a scruffy, red dog-like creature called Red XIII. Their arrival prompted him to hastily wipe his face and stop sobbing. The two joined him and stood in silence for a while. Cid took a packet of matches from his the strap of his flight goggles and lit a cigarette.  
  
"You really miss her, don't you?"  
  
Cloud turned his red face towards him, trying to look normal. Cid blew a cloud of smoke into the windy night and said, "It's all right, you don't have to hide it, I could hear you crying."  
  
Cloud started to cry again, "I miss her so much."  
  
Red XIII stood next to Cloud and said in a gruff voice,"We all miss her, after all we went through, she became a part of us."  
  
There was silence for a moment. Cloud pulled himself together and asked, "Hey guys, do you think the others will be there today?"  
  
Cid tapped some ash off his cigarette over the rail and said, "I don't know, it sure would be good to see them all again, it's been a while."  
  
Red sat down on his hind legs and sighed, "I wouldn't be surprised if they're there right now."  
  
Cloud smiled at Red and said, "I sure hope you're right."  
  
They sat in silence for a while longer until Cid glanced at his watch and said, "We'd better get inside, we'll probably be landing soon."  
  
Cid flicked the spent cigarette into the night and the three of them returned inside. 


	2. The reunion

The ship landed in the plains on the outskirts of a small wood, it was still dark and they had a long walk ahead of them. Fully armed, the group set off through the woods. It was a long and arduous journey, but the group group pressed on, regardless of their tiredness. They came to a small hill, just outside the woods. Before they had a chance to climb it, Red twitched, suddenly, "I can smell something, there's someone else coming from the woods."  
  
Surely enough, there were loud voices coming from within the dark forest. Cloud whipped his sword off his back and held it in front of him, facing the woods. Cid stood next to him, spear in hand. Red XIII growled menacingly at the oncoming strangers. 3 figures appeared amongst the trees. The three of them leapt forwards into the darkness, ready for combat. There came a thud, and a high-pitched yelp from Cid. Immediately, Cloud froze, there was a huge machine pressing a rotary machine gun against the side of his head. It was too dark for him to pick out any specific features. Red stood rooted to the spot, growling at the silhouette of abnormally shaped figure. The mysterious creature hunched slightly to get a good look at Red. To his surprise, its head dropped to the ground and started moving towards him. Nervous, he stopped growling and moved backwards. eventually, a female voice asked, "What the hell's going on?".  
  
The lady pulled out a torch and shone its beam over the scene. The creature's head turned out to be a small black cat, standing on it's hind legs, wearing brown boots, a red cape and a small crown. Clasped in his tiny, black paw was a pink megaphone, used for commanding the giant mog doll that he rode on. This was had made up the creature's body. The machine turned out to be a huge black man, and the machine gun was in the place of his right hand. There was a small' six-year-old girl wearing a white t-shirt and an orange skirt sat on his shoulder. He lowered his gun and said with a deep, quaking voice, "Shit! What the hell d'you think you're doin', scarin' me like that?"  
  
Cloud was starting to piece the odd situation together. Still frozen he exclaimed,"Barret!" and threw his sword to the ground.  
  
Red XIII stood shivering, staring at the small black cat named Cait Sith as he leapt aboard the short, stumpy head of the animated Mog doll. Eventually the cat said, "I knew you guys'd turn up, sorry if we startled you."  
  
Red XIII gasped for breath, shivering insanely and wheezed insincerely,"No problem."   
  
Cloud threw his arms around Barret and shouted, "Oh my God, it's so good to see you guys again!"  
  
Barret was surprised by this sudden outburst of emotion and pushed Cloud back saying, "Get the hell offa me!"  
  
Cloud then turned to the small girl on Barret's shoulder, who looked quite startled by the unannounced commotion, and said cheerfully,"Hiya Marlene. You've shot up since I last saw you."  
  
She had always acted shy around Cloud, and since she was still recovering from the shock, she just stared blankly, trembling wildly. Cloud smiled at her, peered around for a while and finally said, "Where's Cid?"  
  
The torchlight shifted towards the ground, where Cid lay sprawled across the grass, unconscious. Barret laughed and said,"You sure can pack a punch Tifa."  
  
Tifa. It had been so long since Cloud had heard that name. Too long.  
  
"Tifa?"  
  
"Cloud? Is that you?"  
  
The lady with the torch sone the light directly into Cloud's face, almost blinding him.  
  
"Cloud!"  
  
The torch fell to the floor and in a state of semi-darkness, the woman sprinted towards cloud and embraced him tightly. She cried into his shoulder, "Cloud, I missed you so much."  
  
Cloud placed his arm around her and kissed her black hair. He said quietly, "I missed you too, Tifa."  
  
The group stared at the two of them in the darkness, unsure what they should do. Eventually, Barret said,"Yo! Hate to destroy the moment, but we'd better get goin'."  
  
Tifa picked up Cid and carried him on her back out of guilt. They climbed the grassy knoll and from there, they had a clear view of the Ancient city. The sun was starting to appear on the horizon, casting its red glow across the white ocean of buildings and roads that was the city of the Ancients. The group absorbed the view in awe, it was extremely beautiful, but at the same time, there was an unnerving presence. Great power rested in these ruins. They were nearly there. Cloud picked a flower from the ground, it looked just like the ones Aeris used to sell. He pocketed it and they marched onwards, through the city. They marched silently. Everyone was quite afraid of the ruins. They brought back a lot of painful memories. The sun was high in the sky when they reached the familiar cluster of trees. Beyond them was the lake where Aeris lay. Cid was still unconscious, but he had developed a nice, black eye. It was just as Cloud remembered it, the tranquil grey scenery, the mysterious, white building, The clear blue water. It was all there. There were two extremely familiar figures already stood by the lake. A young girl, about seventeen years old and a strange-looking man, he had long, black hair and his left arm was entirely made of bronze. Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine, the last members of the team. Cloud smiled and shouted to them. Immediately, Vincent pulled out a white pistol and pointed it straight towards him. When he realised that it was Cloud, he spun it around on his finger and placed it in his holster. Yuffie patted Vincent on the shoulder and said,"See Vince, I told you they'd turn up." She held out her palm,"Now pay up!"  
  
Vincent groaned and handed her a 500 gil note. She pocketed it and said,"Don't you ever learn." She held out his pistol and said, you'll be wanting this back too. She giggled mischievously as he snatched it from her. He laughed sarcastically and said grumpily,"Would you stop doing that?!"  
  
Cloud smiled and said,"It sure is good to see you guys, but now that we're here, in this place... well, it brings back a lot of painful memories."  
  
He walked into the water until his feet were submerged. Behind him, the group were silent. A tear splashed into the water at his feet. He whispered to himself,"Aeris, come back."  
  
He removed the flower from his pocket and held it in the palm of his hand. He gave it a gentle blow and watched as it soared slowly towards the centre of the lake and landed silently on the water's surface. He hung his head and cried to himself.  
  
"Come back."  
  
There was complete silence. He raised his head and looked at the flower. Something strange was happening. The flower was hovering inches above the water, as if floating on the wind. There was silence. The flower hovered slowly back towards Cloud. He watched it intently as it floated over his shoulder, past the fixated group and into the hands of a female figure who had appeared amongst the trees. The girl was silhouetted against a blinding, angelic light shining out from behind her. She sniffed the flower and then placed it in her hair. The light dispersed, revealing a beautiful, young girl with long, brown hair in a long, pink dress with brown boots. she faced the group, smiling. "No. That's impossible." Cloud's eyes locked with her's. He could not believe it."Aeris?"  
  
The girl walked slowly towards Cloud. Everyone was stunned. The girl stopped, inches from Cloud who stared into her eyes and whispered softly,"Hello."  
  
Cloud stammered uncontrollably, he was completely overcome with so many emotions. Eventually he managed to utter,"Aeris. But... but how?"  
  
Aeris spoke in a calm gentle voice,"It's good to see you all again."  
  
There was a wide smile across her lips. Cloud stayed rooted to the spot. The others walked into the water and stood next to him, staring in disbelief, inspecting Aeris, unsure as to whether she was real or not. She stepped forwards and touched Cloud's face with her warm, gentle fingers and chuckled,"Aren't you going to say anything?"  
  
Vincent stepped forwards, splashing underfoot and stared at Aeris, confused,"How? How're you...alive?"  
  
Aeris looked towards Cloud and said,"Cloud, do you remember at Mideel when you fell into the Lifestream?"  
  
"Yes. How'd you know about that?"  
  
"Because I was there. You see, the Lifestream is a gathering of all the spirits of the Ancients. Being an Ancient myself, My spirit went there when I died. Since I was the last Ancient, and the one who possessed the Holy materia, they combined their power and revived me, so that I could lead them in the attack on Meteor."  
  
Marlene leapt off Barret's shoulder and threw herself around Aeris' waist shouting,"Flower lady! I missed you flower lady."  
  
Aeris put her hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her.  
  
Barret smiled at Aeris and said,"Well, I gotta say, this is a fine day for reunions."  
  
A painfully familiar voice called from the trees,"It certainly is."  
  
Cloud spun around and saw A leather-clad man with long, grey hair and a sheathed sword on his belt leaning against a tree. He couldn't believe it.  
  
"Sephiroth?!"  
  
Somehow, he had returned. Despite their epic battle in the Northern Crater, he had returned. Vincent whipped out his pistol and fired a single shot at his head. The bullet froze in the air, just short of Sephiroth's face. He glanced at the lone bullet and it fell to the ground. Red yelled,"Doesn't anyone stay dead around here?!"  
  
Cloud clutched the handle of his sword and charged towards him, roaring with anger. Sephiroth straightened up and unsheathed his sword. Cloud swung his sword down upon Sephiroth who blocked the swipe. Cloud continued to hack and slash at Sephiroth but it was all in vain, he was too fast and blocked every blow. However, Sephiroth made no attempts to strike Cloud. Cloud continued the onslaught with incredible speed until he embedded Sephiroth's sword into the ground and swiped at his face. Blood poured from the gash across his cheek. There was complete silence as he stared at Cloud angrily for a second, breathing heavily. Surprisingly, he then let go of his sword and stood up straight. The two of them gasped for breath, staring each other in the eye. Cloud said confused,"What are you doing here? Why aren't you attacking?"  
  
Sephiroth breathed heavily and placed a hand over his wound,"I didn't come here to fight you, I came to thank you"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Let me explain, when you attacked me in the Northern Crater and I disappeared, I wasn't dead. I simply teleported out of there to avoid any more attacks. I knew I had failed. Your attack had weakened me, and over time, I became weaker and weaker. Knowing that I could never be so powerful again, I regained my sanity. The reason I was so evil in the past was because I had tasted power, and wanted more. I no longer have that unquenchable thirst for power. I am a normal man again. I owe it all to you, Cloud. I wish to join your team."  
  
Barret stepped up and thrust his gun into Sephiroth's chest and growled,"And just what makes you think we're gonna trust you?"  
  
Sephiroth calmly pushed the gun aside and said,"The fact that you're still alive."  
  
They couldn't deny it, he made a good point. Though he was much weaker than he once was, he was still extremely powerful, as proved by the way he had stopped Vincent's bullet. If he wanted to kill them, they would be dead by now.  
  
"Don't you remember all the good times we had in SOLDIER? We were like brothers."  
  
There was silence whilst Cloud thought. Eventually, he sighed and said,"Alright, but if you cross us..."   
  
cloud and swung his sword at Sephiroth, stopping inches from his neck. "Understood?"  
  
Sephiroth chuckled and then replied,"Understood."  
  
Cloud handed him his sword. He sheathed it, then smiled at Cloud and said,"You haven't changed at all."  
  
Barret smacked a nearby tree and yelled,"This is Bullshit! That guy'll kill us all!"  
  
"No, Barret."Aeris stepped forwards and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I can sense good in him, he is no threat to us." She walked up to Sephiroth and stared him in the eye, smiling and said,"Welcome aboard."  
  
Sephiroth knelt, bowing his head solemnly and said,"Aeris, I'm... so... so sorry for..."  
  
Aeris crouched and spoke quietly to him,"I think it would be best to put the past behind us, too many memories."  
  
Sephiroth raised his head, he was crying. Aeris hugged him, much to the surprise of Sephiroth, and indeed, everyone else and said,"Sephiroth, come on. We're the only surviving Ancients, we have to look after each other now. We can't dwell on the past."  
  
She let go of him and stared into his watery eyes, smiling. He spoke quietly and shakily,"Thank you."  
  
Yuffie, who was now seated on the ground, leapt up and yelled,"I know, we should celebrate, now that we're all back together. Let's go to the Gold Saucer!"  
  
Red smiled looked towards Cid on Tifa's back and said,"We can go on Cid's ship, although we can't go anywhere until he wakes up."  
  
Tifa walked into the water untile it came up to the top of her legs, then opened her arms, dropping Cid into the icy water. He flailed his arms and legs wildly before surfacing, gasping for breath on all fours, sopping wet. He stared blankly at the group, who were now all laughing at him, trying to make sense of the situation. He stood up, trying to keep his dignity and said,"Hey guys. Good to see you again."  
  
Barret chuckled,"It's about time you woke up."  
  
Cid touched his black eye and winced with pain. He inhaled sharply and asked,"What happened to me?"  
  
Cloud walked up to him, laughing and said,"Tifa happened to you."  
  
"Oh. So she was the one that attacked us?"  
  
"That's right, she sure can pack a punch."  
  
Sephiroth chuckled,"I would know."  
  
Cid suddenly noticed Sephiroth's presence. He leapt backwards, confused, eventually he uttered,"What the hell?!"  
  
Tifa patted him on the shoulder and said,"He's switched sides, he's one of us now. Aeris can even sense the good in him. Sorry about the eye by the way."  
  
Now all logic had escaped him,"Aeris?"  
  
"Oh yeah, Aeris is back as well, revived by the lifestream."  
  
Cid looked over at Aeris, who waved at him. It felt like a weird dream,"So I've been unconscious for about an hour and I've missed the team being reunited, Aeris returning and Sephiroth joining us?"  
  
Yuffie chuckled and said,"And we've decided to go to the Gold Saucer on your ship."  
  
Cid put his head in his hands and murmured,"Oh man, this is going to take some getting used to." 


	3. The briefing room

It would take several hours to get to the Gold Saucer and there was very little to do on the ship. So the team assembled in the briefing room, with their new recruit, and each one described their life since they had met last. Cloud started. He stood at the foot of the vast wooden table, dressed in a black, zip-up sweater and jeans. On his left shoulder was a metal protector, and grafted onto his left wrist was a gold, mechanical hand. His hair was an untamable riot of yellow spikes. Everyone listened, fixated, as he spoke, "Well, after the battle in the crater with Sephiroth, I ran away. I desperately wanted to settle down and start a new life after what we had been through, so I went to Nibelheim, where I became something of a celebrity. You may have seen some of my interviews on TV. Later on, I was given a knighthood. So much for the quiet life. Then one day, Red tracked me down and reminded me that it was nearly the anniversary of Aeris' death. And so, the two of us set off on my bike, which ran out of gas by the time we reached the next town. But the next town happened to be Rocket Town. So we found Cid and hitched a ride on this ship. We met Barret, Tifa, Marlene and Cait Sith in the forest, and that's about it. Who's next?"   
  
Red called out,"You choose."  
  
"Okay, you."  
  
Marlene was tugging on Barret's arm and saying desperately,"Daddy, I have to go to the bathroom."  
  
Yuffie stood up and said,"I'll take her. I'm feeling a little airsick, I need to stretch my legs. Or maybe I can go there and throw up. Come on sweetie."  
  
She took Marlene by the hand and headed towards the door. Cid said,"The toilets are on the other side of the ship, it'll take you a while, what about your story?"  
  
She stopped and said,"I'm pretty sure Vincent can tell my story." She winked flirtaciously at Vincent, who smiled back at her. Everyone stared at him, astonished and confused. Cloud said simply,"Explain."  
  
Vincent replied,"I'll explain later, but right now, Red has a story to tell."  
  
Red sat on the end of the table and said,"Thank you Vincent. With Sephiroth supposedly dead and Meteor destroyed, I returned to Cosmo Canyon, a hero. There was a little surprise waiting for me. For a long time it was believed that I was the last in my species, but apparently, there was a group of my kind hiding out in Midgar. When Midgar was layed to ruin by near-impact with Meteor, they came to Cosmo Canyon. Before too long I was married to one of the females, Yoko. And we now have two children, Seto, after my father, and Aeris. One day I saw Cloud on the cover of a magazine and decided to visit him, and you know the rest. Now after that little display from Vincent, I vote he speaks next."  
  
Vincent chuckled and walked towards the foot of the table, Red stole his seat. He wore a black, long-sleeved shirt, from the end of the left sleeve poked a bronze, claw-like hand, a souvenir of the anatomy-altering experiments carried out on him. He also wore a pair of baggy, black trousers over a pair of brown boots. "Well, after the battle in the North Crater, I had nowhere to go. I waited on the ship as Cid dropped everyone off at their home-towns until eventually, only me and Yuffie were left. She realised that I had no home and invited me to come and live with her in Wutai. We were the talk of the town, the heroes who had aided the defeat of Sephiroth and the destruction of Meteor. 6 months later, we were married." He held up his organic hand which, surely enough, had a gold ring on it.  
  
Barret sat up in his seat and barked,"Aren't you eleven years older than her? How'd you get away with something like that?"  
  
He replied, "In Wutai it's tradition for a girl to marry an older man. Plus, her parents begged me to. A while later, we entered the Ehrgeiz tournament."  
  
Cloud chuckled and said,"I hope you did better than me."  
  
Tifa stuck her arm in the air and said,"And me."  
  
Sephiroth said smoothly,"And me."  
  
Cloud, Tifa and Sephiroth had all joined the tournament with hope of obtaining the mystical weapon, but never faced each other. They had all been defeated by the Ehrgeiz's monstrous guardian.  
  
Vincent continued,"Yeah, she did very well. She walked away with the Ehrgeiz."  
  
Cloud sat up suddenly in disbelief,"What?! She defeated the guardian and got the Ehrgeiz?!"  
  
"Yep, that's my girl. Now, for the next speaker, I choose... Sephiroth."  
  
Sephiroth stood up and trudged towards the front of the room. He was covered in tight, black leather. He sighed and spoke softly,"Mako energy is the life force of the planet. It can be used for many things, from generating electricity to crystalising into materia, the source of magic. When the planet becomes wounded, it gathers mako energy at the source in order to heal itself. The bigger the wound, the more mako is required. I obtained the black materia and summoned Meteor to create a wound so large that it would require a colossal amount of mako to heal it. At the centre of the wound, would be me. I planned to absorb the mako and turn myself into the ultimate being. I never would have planned this had I not been driven insane by the discovery that I was just an experiment. Anyway, my plan failed, courtesy of you all. When I realised this, I trained my powers in the bottom of the North Crater, readying myself for a counter-attack. But my powers slowly deteriorated as I regained my sanity. After a while, I was my old self again, I sought you out to apologise, but i don't know how I could possibly create an apology proportionate to my actions. I'll start by saying this: I'm sorry. Now, next up I choose the gentleman with the gun-arm."  
  
"The name's Barret!", he growled, still quite angry at the fact that they had agreed to take Sephiroth in. He stomped to the end of the table, staring at Sephiroth with malice. Sephiroth hastily sat down, intimidated by Barret. Barret was a huge man, extremely tall and extremely muscley. It was extremely odd to see a once fearless and evil man so scared of anything. Barret stood tall, wearing an open, short-sleeved shirt over an incredible array of muscles, khaki pants, and large brown boots.  
  
"After the battle, I went home to Corel, where I was acknowledged as a hero. I invested a lot of money in the restoration of our town, but it was worth it. I may be flat broke, but the town is fully restored. One day, Tifa came knockin' at our door. She stayed with us for a while, then the three of us decided to take a trip to the Gold Saucer, where we found Cait Sith. From there, we set off to visit Aeris grave. That's about it. Next speaker, Cait Sith."  
  
Cait Sith hopped off the head of his seated mog doll and waddled onto the centre of the table. "Well, as most of you know, I'm a droid, created by Shinra to spy on you. When the Shinra headquarters were destroyed by Diamond Weapon, I was given a will of my own. So I returned to the gold saucer and resumed my job as a fortune teller. That's where I've been ever since. Tifa, you next."  
  
He returned to the head of his mog, who was still lying immobile in his chair. Tifa walked to the front, trailing her shimmering, black hair.  
  
She wore tight leather pants with flared bottoms, a white crop-top and a pair of fighting gauntlets.  
  
"Well, there's really not much to tell. I couldn't return to my bar in Midgar after it had been destroyed, so I moved to Kalm instead. When I got there, I set up an entire nightclub with my earnings. Before too long, I started to miss my friends, so I travelled far and wide, searching for any of you. Eventually, I came to Corel, where I found Barret and Marlene. I stayed with them for a while and the rest you already know. Cid, let's hear your story."  
  
Cid didn't bother going to the end of the table and just stayed stood by the doorway, smoking a cigarette in his oil-stained, white shirt and baggy, blue pants. He blew a cloud of smoke into the air, thoughtfully and said,"I always thought that after the raid on the North Crater, that would be the end of my flying career. So I returned to Rocket town and got married to Shera. But I missed flying too much, so I set to work building this ship. Just as I finished, Cloud and Red appeared at my doorstep, giving me the ideal opportunity for a test flight. I got knocked unconscious by Tifa in the forest and next thing I knew, Sephiroth and Aeris were both back. I'm still a little confused."  
  
He stared at his friends and smiled broadly. It was good to be together again. 


	4. The pact

Yuffie awoke suddenly. She blinked her watery eyes as they grew accustomed to the darkness. After a while she recognised the square windows to the endless, clear sky, the long oak table with the large tv screen at it's foot. She was in the briefing room, and she had fallen asleep in one of the chairs. She noticed one of Vincent's jackets was acting as a blanket, so she smiled appreciatively. She stretched her arms and stood up. As she did so, she realised just how cold it was, so she threw on Vincent's jacket over her tanktop and walked thorugh the door. She stood on the deck, staring into the vast, starry sky. It was an incredibly beautiful sight, she desperately wanted to share it with her husband. She could hear the sound of metal crashing against metal, swords, coming from a door on the far left side of the deck. Curious, she started towards the sound. She walked through the door onto a small platform, bordered with a rail. The clashing of swords could be heard over the edge. She peered over the rail. Below, Cloud and Sephiroth were training by the light of a small lamp on the wall. "Hey, there she is!" Aeris called from her right. Yuffie waved and walked over to her. Tifa and Aeris were both stood by a heater in their pyjamas and were watching the fast-paced battle below. "Did you sleep well?" asked Tifa.  
  
"Yeah, I feel much better now. What are you girls doing awake at this time?" she asked.  
  
Aeris chuckled and said,"Are you kidding? Two cute guys battling shirtless."  
  
Yuffie laughed,"You two really need to get out more."  
  
Tifa stared at the scene below and said,"Hey, we're not all married you know."  
  
Aeris sighed longingly and said,"You really are lucky Yuffie, that was so sweet the way Vincent covered you up with his jacket. I envy you."  
  
"Don't worry girls, you'll find the right guy. You'll see."  
  
Aeris stared at the two guys below and said,"Personaly, I think the right guy is down there."  
  
Tifa was suddenly saddened. Did Aeris really still have feelings for Cloud after all this time? She didn't want to be her rival again. Trying to conceal her jealousy, she said,"You still have a thing for Cloud then?"  
  
Aeris turned to her, smiling, and said,"What makes you think I'm talking about Cloud?"  
  
Yuffie and Tifa were both astonished, Yuffie stared at her and said,"You are kidding! Sephiroth? The man that killed you?"  
  
Aeris remained calm and said,"I know we've had a crazy past, but I really don't care. It's strange, but whenever I look into his eyes, it just feels so right. I keep telling myself, this is the man."  
  
Tifa supported her quickly, saying,"She does have a point, I mean they are both Ancients. And he seems like a nice guy now that he's normal again."  
  
Yuffie shrugged her shoulders and said simply,"It's your life."  
  
She didn't want to argue about it, and she did agree with Tifa. There was silence for a while as the three of them became absorbed in the battle again. Eventually Yuffie said,"I can't stay here all night, I'm going to find my husband."  
  
"Goodnight." The other two said.  
  
Once Yuffie left, there was another, longer silence. Eventually, Tifa asked,"So you really don't have feelings for Cloud anymore?"  
  
Aeris shook her head. This was a huge relief for Tifa. "Y'know what Aeris? We should make a pact, right here. We stop dreaming and get these guys before some other girls do. Agreed?"  
  
Aeris thought for a moment and then smiled, saying quietly,"Agreed."  
  
Tifa held out her hand, which Aeris grasped firmly, sealing the deal.  
  
"It's good to have you back, Aeris."Tifa said, still grasping her hand.  
  
She replied,"It's good to be back."  
  
"Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" Came a masculine voice with a humorous tone.  
  
Sephiroth was floating, metres away from the platform, grinning childishly. Thinking quickly, Tifa said,"That would be telling. That's a pretty cool trick, by the way."  
  
Sephiroth raised his eyebrow suspiciously, still smiling. He couldn't help but notice that Aeris was staring at his bare chest. Cloud called up from below,"Hey Sephiroth! I'm going to go take a shower!"  
  
"Okay, see you tomorrow." He called back down.  
  
"Goodnight Cloud!" Tifa bellowed, almost deafening Sephiroth.  
  
"Goodnight."Cloud replied, blowing her a kiss. Prompting her to blush like a little schoolgirl. She took a look at Aeris and Sephiroth, whose eyes were locked. Tifa couldn't believe how much chemistry she felt between those two. She decided to remove herself quickly, saying,"Well, now that the show's over I'm going to go and... do... uh... the thing... Goodnight."  
  
She left quickly before they uttered a response. She wandered onto the deck smiling. Towards the centre of the deck, she could see Vincent and Yuffie stood in each other's arms, staring at the sky. She couldn't help but feel a little left out. She continued to walk towards her quarters. She walked up to her door and pushed it open. An empty bed awaited her. She hung her head, still stood in the doorway.  
  
"Tifa!" Came a call from the sparsely lit corridor. She turned her head towards the shirtless figure that was Cloud. She walked up to him, he was smiling.  
  
"What is it Cloud?"  
  
Cloud looked deep into her eyes and spoke quietly. "Tifa, there's something I've been meaning to say to you. When I moved to Nibelheim, alone, I knew I'd made hte biggest mistake of my life. Every day I woke up, feeling that there was something missing. A void in my heart. The truth is, when you threw your arms around me in the forest, everything felt like it was in place. Tifa, I don't want to lose you again."  
  
Tifa suddenly realised that she was holding Cloud's hand very tightly. This was it. This was how she wanted it to be. She stared at the reflection of herself in Cloud's eyes, that was when she realised that she was crying. Tears of joy. She leaned in and pressed her lips against Cloud's. 


End file.
